Trains at Finsbury Park, ECML | 10/03/18

A busy and warm visit to Finsbury Park situated in North London on the East Coast Mainline after spending around 2 hours on Saturday 10th March 2018. Finally a 700 was seen in this video! But wasn't my target for today. Also included 4 line action! in one video 4 trains were involved on different tracks.

Finsbury Park info:

Finsbury Park is a busy intermodal interchange station in north London. The interchange consists of a National Rail station, a London Underground station and two bus stations, all interconnected. The main entrances are by the eastern bus station on Station Place. The National Rail ticket office here lies in between one entrance marked by the Underground roundel symbol, while the other is marked by the National Rail symbol, and provides direct access to the main line platforms. There is another exit by the western bus station along Wells Terrace, incorporating the Underground ticket office, plus a narrow side entrance to the south on the A503 Seven Sisters Road.

The station is named after the nearby Finsbury Park, one of the oldest of London's Victorian parks. It is also used by many Arsenal supporters on matchdays, as the club's ground is just a short walk away.

When the Victoria line was built in the 1960s, the walls in Finsbury Park station were decorated with mosaics of duelling pistols,which can still be seen. This was based on a mistaken identification of Finsbury Park with Finsbury Fields, which was used by Londoners since medieval times for archery and sports, and also associated with 18th-century duels and one of the first hot air balloon flights. Finsbury Fields was close to the present-day Finsbury Square, 3 miles (5 km) south. At the same time the long entrance subways and the Wells Terrace booking hall (at the bus station end) were rebuilt to a high standard.

Finsbury Park station has a long and complex history involving the participation of many railway companies and there have been various changes to the station infrastructure. British Transport Police maintain a presence at Finsbury Park and have a police station at the Wells Terrace entrance.

Ticket barriers were installed to platforms 1, 2, 5 and 6 in 2011.

History:

Finsbury Park is on the route of the East Coast Main Line from King's Cross to the north of England and Scotland. The southern section of this was built in stages during the 1840s and early 1850s by the Great Northern Railway (GNR). Tracks were first laid through Finsbury Park in 1850 to the GNR's temporary terminus at Maiden Lane just north of the permanent terminus at King's Cross (which opened in 1852). The first station at Finsbury Park opened on 1 July 1861 and was originally named Seven Sisters Road (Holloway). Soon after the first station opened, the Edgware, Highgate and London Railway (EH&LR) began construction of a line from Finsbury Park to Edgware.

Accidents:

On 9 November 1959 a freight train ran away and collided with an empty coaching-stock train. The collision occurred on a bridge over a road, severely damaging the bridge.

Connections:

London Buses routes 4, 19, 29, 106, 153, 210, 236, 253, 254, 259, W3 and W7 and night routes N19, N29, N253 and N279 serve the station and bus station.

Services:

The above-ground National Rail station, which has a separate ticket office to the Underground station, is managed and served by Great Northern. Trains from Moorgate and King's Cross form inner suburban services to Welwyn Garden City and Hertford North and outer suburban services start from Kings Cross towards Peterborough and Cambridge. Inner suburban service formerly did not serve the Moorgate branch at night and at weekends, being diverted to London Kings Cross instead. There are currently six platforms but only five tracks, as platforms 6 and 7 share a track (though platform 6 is no longer separately numbered or utilised). The platforms were renumbered on 19 May 2013 to prepare for two new up platforms, with all existing numbers increased by 2. Typically, platform 3 is used by southbound suburban services to Moorgate, platform 4 by southbound regional services to King's Cross, platform 7 (and occasionally also platform 5) by northbound regional services from King's Cross, and platform 8 by northbound suburban services from Moorgate. Platform utilisation differs when the Northern City Line to Moorgate is closed: generally, platform 3 is used by slow southbound services, platform 4 by fast southbound services, platform 5 by fast northbound services and platform 7 by slow northbound services; platform 6 is unused. Platform 5 is the only platform not currently protected by ticket barriers. In early 2018, as part of the Thameslink Programme, Finsbury Park was linked to the Thameslink network via a new tunnel which connects the Great Northern Route to the lines into St Pancras. This has enabled through services to run from Cambridge via Finsbury Park and London Bridge to Gatwick Airport, Brighton and Horsham.